Page 101 of Exposed

“Yes, girl, I’m happy to see you,” I rub her furry head. “Any leads, Dad?”

Dad’s eyes are bloodshot, and his face is red and puffy from crying.

“It’s okay, Dad. We’re going to find Mom,” I squeeze his shoulder.

“The police found a note in your mom’s abandoned car.” His voice is thick with emotion.

Chills fan down my back and over my shoulders.

“It says, ‘You’ll be sorry.’”

“Fuck. What does that mean?” I grumble. A pit forms in my stomach. “Do you think Ian knows we’re the ones who hired Merrit to dig around his company?”

“You think he knows? I’m so sorry,” Jasmine apologizes.

“It’s not your fault. He’s a wealthy criminal. Maybe he’s been watching my family, and he could’ve easily hired someone to kidnap my mom,” I guess.

Ian could’ve been the one to hire those thugs to attack me, too.

Now that the story is out in the news, my dad and mom know Jasmine’s real name and what happened to her.

“We think Kevin is innocent. We met with the co-owner, Mr. Crane and his son Ian. It’s possible Ian orchestrated the whole scandal and framed KevinandJasmine, because he wants to take over the whole company when his dad and Kevin’s dad retire,” I tell my dad as he pulls into Miami traffic and heads to our house.

“What the hell? I hope you threatened to sue like I told you,” my dad says.

“That was your idea?” Jasmine asks my dad.

“Yes, ma’am. No reputable business does that to an employee without a proper investigation. They need to have an example made of them so it won’t happen again to another innocent person.”

“Yeah, that would help people in the future to not have to go through what I did. Although, I found you guys, so it was worth it for me. Now, we have to find Madilyn.” Jasmine gives me a soft grin, and I squeeze her thigh affectionately.

When my dad pulls into my driveway, I hop out of the car. “Let me grab my keys, and we can search for Mom.”

“Absolutely,” my dad agrees.

“Where are we going to look?” Jasmine asks, following me to get my keys.

“Dad can go where they found Mom’s car abandoned. We can go where her phone was abandoned. Ask around. Someone had to have seen something,” I answer. “Dad can take Shani so he’s not alone. Maybe she’ll sniff out something.”

I go into my bedroom and latch my gun in the waist holster I have, then put it on.

Jasmine eyes my gun.

“I’ve got a license to carry. You know I’d do anything to keep you safe, right?” I ask.

“I’m just sorry we’re in this mess,” she says softly.

“We can’t control everything that happens to us, Jasmine. But we’ll get through this, and I’m not leaving you.” I palm the back of her head and kiss her hair. I love taking care of this girl.

She fists her hands in my shirt and kisses my collarbone, and goosebumps scatter across my chest. “You’re right. We’ve got this.”

Damn, she’s the best.

Dad is waiting for us in the front yard while Shani stretches her legs. I tell Dad the plan, and even though he says the police have probably already done that, he agrees. People can get jumpy talking with police. They may be more honest with my dad and me when we say it’s our family member who’s missing.

“Do you have anything of Mom’s that Shani can smell?”

“I’m sure I do.” My dad rummages through his car and produces a mint green scarf. “Here we go.”

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